After 5 years of travel, long studio sessions and a few appearances in group shows, Fernando Elvira makes a comeback with his largest solo exhibition to this date. Faith Software Actualized is conceived as a display of all-terrain artistry. In this show Fernando shares with the audience a very diverse collection of paintings, collages, artifacts, skateboards, photographs, sculptures, slogans and drawings all created in the mountains of Southern Spain since 2007. In his own words: “I do art like children play games, when tired of one game they jump happily onto the next. I jump happily between mediums and enjoy them all equally”. As we all know, the human being is born and some time later dies. After birth some individuals follow what the establishment dictates and therefore, die a slow death. However, there are some others who cross the line and pursue what their instincts and emotions tell them. INna sense those individuals keep being reborn again and again. Fernando Elvira falls into this category. He simply won´t conform to the norm. He stays true to his convictions, convictions that for most people are too radical or plain wrong. But he could care less.

Fernando dropped out from Chemistry college to create probably the best skateboard magazine that Spain has ever seen. In the early 90s, travel, poetry, painting or vegetarianism were introduced in the spanish skate scene because of him. Thomas Campbell lived with him for a while in their early careers as artists. In 1995 Fernando took part in one the first skate-art exhibitions ever in Europe. It was called “Dysfunctional” and was held at the Blue Note Gallery in London. It was perhaps the beginning of the worldwide recognition that some skate artists enjoy nowadays. After his period as a skateboard magazine editor, Fernando began to travel to the USA where he found a more vibrant culture and some artistic opportunities. He spent time with some preeminent figures of the skate-art scene that are very popular now. That was the time when he had an exhibition in New York curated by Aaron Rose (Beautiful Losers) and took part on the pivotal group show “Off the Hook” at the Luggage Store of San Francisco, along with top artists such as Barry McGee, Ed Templeton, Mark Gonzales, Chris Johanson, Spike Jonze or Evan Hecox.

At he beginning of the 21st century Fernando returns to Europe where the skateboarding industry is beginning to grow. Jeremie Daclin from Cliché skateboards contacts him and his particular graphic style becomes the mark of identity of the brand. Not only was his artwork used in board graphics but also in the artwork for videos like Freedom Fries (2004) or Gypsy Tour 2 (2007). After the collaborations for Cliché he got work assignments for companies like Zero Skateboards, Salomon Snowboards, Monster Children Magazine, Screwed Hardware or The City of Malmö, where he painted a bowl for the Quiksilver Bowlriders contest.